As we were leaving St Austell, Mum must have seen the disappointment in my face over the fact that we weren’t stopping there to have a look around after all she’d told us about the town, but at first she wouldn’t tell us where we were going instead. She just said that it had a connection with the china clay industry and that she was sure I’d enjoy it when we got there.
That made me sulk a bit, as I’d really been looking forward to looking round St Austell, so Mum eventually relented and told me she was taking me and Granny Betty to a tropical rain forest, which was just 3 miles/5 kilometres from St Austell.
Well, of course, I didn’t believe her, because even a Little Bear like me knows there aren’t any tropical rain forests in Britain these days. Though it might be wet enough, it’s certainly not warm enough as tropical rain forests need an average temperature of between 20oC and 25oC all year round, with no frost at all. And, though Cornwall is warmer than it is where we live in Yorkshire, the highest average temperature even there is only 19oC – and that’s only in July and August.
And, although I don’t know much about gardening, I didn’t think china clay looked like the sort of stuff plants would like to grow in.
Then Mum relented and told us that the tropical rain forest she was taking us to hadn’t grown naturally in Cornwall. Instead it had been created for a huge new visitor attraction which had opened earlier that month and was called the Eden Project.
She also said that it had been built in an old china clay pit, which had been worked for over 160 years before it closed in the mid-1990s.
Work on the project started in 1998 and had advanced enough for the visitor centre to open in May 2000. Then in September that year the first plants arrived for the new rain forest. Instead of being planted into the china clay, however, they were planted in a specially designed building called a biome because it recreated the exact conditions necessary for them to grow and flourish.
Just like all the other buildings at the Eden Project, the Tropical Rain Forest biome is made up of a dome-shaped steel frame, covered with five-sided and six-sided units which look like glass, but are actually made from two layers of strong plastic with a layer of air in between. This is much lighter than glass would be and so allows a much bigger area to be covered.
The Tropical Rain Forest biome is the biggest building at the Eden Project, covering an area of almost 4 acres/more than 1.5 hectares. It is also 180 feet/55 metres high, 328 feet/100 metres wide and 656 feet/200 metres long. But to appreciate it properly, you had to go inside…
Apart from all the lovely trees and plants, the first thing we noticed was the lovely scent of the greenery and all the flowers that were in bloom – and the second was the humidity. In fact it was so hot and steamy that I asked Mum if I could take my fur coat off, but she said no because I might lose it as we walked round and then I’d have to go home without it.
But, after a few minutes, I got more used to it and began to feel okay again as we made our way along the path through the rain forest. This led us to the top of the biome, from where a lovely man-made waterfall cascaded down the full height of the building, before the water was somehow recycled and returned to the top ready to cascade down again.
And, as we stood looking at the waterfall for little while, I became aware of how many beautiful butterflies were flying around…
There were lots of them in all shapes and colours and sizes. And some were so big that I thought they might even have been able to take me hang-gliding, if only I’d brought the right equipment…
But as we started to go back down through the rain forest, I became aware of something else. From somewhere in front of us there was a strange sound, halfway between a howl and a squeal. And, though I knew that in the natural rain forest there were many different animals including snakes, parrots, ocelots and monkeys, I was fairly sure there weren’t any of them in the biome at the Eden Project.
Mum and Granny Betty also heard it and they looked as puzzled as I felt – until we neared the rest area which was an air-conditioned room with places to sit down and have a drink of cold water before going out into the warm and humid atmosphere again. Then we realised the noise was coming from in there and, as we opened the door, we realised it wasn’t being made by any tropical animal after all, but by a poor little human baby in a push-chair who was not only suffering from heat distress, but also starting to cut his first teeth…
And, after that, it was time to move on. On leaving the rain forest, we took a quick look in the second biome which would eventually be filled with plants from around the Mediterranean, but at that time they were only just beginning to grow.
Then we’d time for a much-needed cup of tea and a slice of cake, before making our way back to the car and continuing our adventure…
I’ve written enough for today, however, so I’ll have to tell you about that in my next post. Meanwhile, take care and stay safe – and I’ll talk to you again soon!
Follow my next blog: 306. MY MUM THE STORY-TELLER – PART ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-ONE
07/03/2024
Wilf the bear-faced blogger 